Footprint Friends update

is your school powerPerfected?

richard — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:42:00 GMT

Footprint Friends is delighted to have powerPerfector as the sponsor of the Wipe Out Waste (WOW) Awards. It is quite difficult for any organisation to live up to the high expectation of our members and having the backing of a business that delivers energy efficiency is quite simply - BRILLIANT!

What's powerPerfector all about? (I hear you ask) Well first there are some interesting facts that you will be surprised to learn. The first is that in the UK 90% of businesses pay for more electricity than they need - and this means that the grid is supplying power over and above the real need to a huge number of businesses. What does that mean... an awful lot of WASTED ENERGY!!!

Wasted energy is bad enough but this energy has both environmental and financial implications. The environment suffers because the wasted energy produces CO2 which is not necessary and the cost involved in using more electricity than needed is just a waste of money. With resources also being wasted in generating this wasted energy it all adds up to a no win situation - amazingly the UK is only just waking up to this fact!

But there is a solution that wipes out this waste and it involves a clever technology delivered by powerPerfector. Without getting too technical powerPerfector technology optimises electricity power supply and reduces consumption, costs and carbon footprint. It is for these reasons that powerPerfector is one of the most sought after technologies in the marketplace currently (which is not suprising!!) The inside of the magic box looks like the photo to the right.

A carbon cutting solution that saves money - exciting isn't it!

Even more inspiring is that powerPerfector can save up to 22% of CO2 for a business - and that's impressive!!

Angus Roberston CEO of powerPerfector (photo right) commenting about our WOW awards said ' it is so important to inspire young people in the face of the environmental challenges we face - I am proud to be the sponsor of these awards and am very much looking forward to reading all your WOW ideas - good luck every one in your challenge to WIPE OUT WASTE'.

Estha Rantzen has foot painted!

richard — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:32:00 GMT

Yesterday Footprint Friends went to an event in London at the Climate Change Fair hosted by Plan International.

We were blessed with good weather, great company and a BBQ - what can be better than that?

The famous Esther Rantzen was there and she came and had her foot painted by our founder Swampy!

A big thanks to our amazing volunteers from powerPerfector - from left to right, top to bottom... (pic 1) Estha, Swampy (pic 2) Nicholas, Tamsin, Jamie, Swampy, Estha, Alex

And thanks to Jo who is not in the picks but is busy having fun making rubbish music and painting her face like a panda.

Some of you may have seen Esther in the news recently as she has been appalled (like many others) about the absurd expense claims that members of parliment have been making. So much so that she has put her self forward to become a member of parliament . I hope she does well and continues to make great use of her fame as one of TV's most popular consumer protection programmes "That's Life".

The event had debates and discussions, a tree to pledge your commitment, rubbish music, a live link up to kids in Plan-affiliated schools and communities and loads of other stuff.

When I say rubbish music it was music made our of rubbish! I have absolutely no rhythm but sort of got into the groove of hitting stuff in time with the others. While we were painting feet the music was playing in the back ground and it really gave a great atmosphere to the event.

I think the foot painting was perhaps some of the most arty we have had so far... (now there is a challenge for you!!!!!)

Have a look in the gallery at all the other feet from the Plan international foot painting

Let us know your thoughts by leaving your comments below.

Why not upload your foot the the gallery and help us get 1 Million Feet To Copenhagen by December 2009?

Hold your own foot painting session and upload your photos...

Smart car - Smart choice

richard — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:06:00 GMT

We wanted to make a change in our daily life by trading in our big family five seater for something more economical.

We have 5 in our family and a dog but it is very rare that we all go in the car together.

I did a lot of research before we traded in our Lexus IS200 for another car...

Seats

As I mentioned earlier we have 5 in our family and a dog but we do not all travel together very often we decided that a TWO seater car would be ok as a compromise but more seats would be nice.

MPG

This is important to us - the miles per gallon has to be better than our Lexus (not hard) and has to be as HIGH as possible.

CO2

This is also important to us - the CO2 also has to be better than our Lexus (again not hard) and has to be as LOW as possible.

Promotion

We do a lot of school visits and attend a lot of events - We really want a vehicle that can be wrapped with Footprint Friends graphics to gain peoples attention and also wanted to use it as part of our exhibitions.

New or Second hand

Buying second hand has two benefits - 1, it is recycling, 2, it is cheeper. Buying new has the benefit of latest technology and better overall green efficiency (hopefully)

So what did we go for...

a smart car!

We have now got our very own Footprint Friends Smart Car. It is fantastic!

There is loads of room for the driver, and even more for the passenger!

The boot is great - we can get two computers in there for our exhibitions!! We can get shopping for all our family in it (ok no passenger but who goes food shopping as a family outing?).

I have had loads of people looking at me while I am driving and guess what... other smart car drivers WAVE at you at bit weird to start off with but quite amusing after a while. You may think that is a bit un cool or just not for you but when you drive past another smart car and they DONT wave its a bit sad . (are they haveing a bad day?)

We got a second hand one as it cost less - maybe if smart read this they will sponsor Footprint Friends with a nice new super eco diesel smart car? (go on Smart contact me)

It is surprisingly quick too... (keeping to the speed limit and trying to keep the MPG as high as possible)

Its like a go-cart for the road!

When you can drive (some of you can) go for a test drive, I am sure smart will take you out if you are interested.

Post your comment below...

view other photos of our Smart car in the gallery....

We're on the road again... Linconshire!

richard — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:23:00 GMT

We are at the "Sustainable Schools Showcase" in Linconshire today! View PDF

We are now set up and looking forward to school staff, governors, parents and anyone else involved in supporting schools to become sustainable.

We are co-exhibiting with powerPerfector which is a fantastic company that provides a technology that reduces energy usage and carbon in buildings. We will be updateing all of you with more information about powerPerfector.... its really, really exciting!

Anyway just a little tease about the show - we have just spoken to a company that produce big mechano type toys that you can actually sit on!! How cool is that (made of wood not plastic)

Who do you love?

richard — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:37:00 GMT

It is a beautiful valentines day - well at least where I am right now it is sunny outside and the morning frost has now melted...

You may have noticed our little valentines badge that we have given all our members If not have a look for it.

Valentines day is a time to send the one you love a message.

So who do you love - have you told them?

We, here at Footprint Friends, love our planet and have sent it a message...

Leave your message at the bottom of this bog for the one you love - Keep it cean as you know it is modorated

Eco fun and games

richard — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:54:00 GMT

You may have played some of our eco games in the run up to Christmas as they were in our advent calendar. ( I hope you enjoyed the calendar)

We have taken all the best games and recycled them by adding them to our games page.

We will be adding to the games so keep coming back to check it out.

Short blog this time, enjoy the games...

walking - perhaps the scarcest thing I have ever done!

richard — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 10:52:00 GMT

You may think that I am over dramatising... (and I probably am)

Ok I have windsurfed, surfed, skateboarded, white water raffted, traveled around the world looking after young people, worked as a life guard for 6 years and many more scary things but this morning I walked our 5 year old son and 7 month old dog to the local shop

Every morning we walk to school together so it is not the walking that bothers me - its the route that we took.

I admit that I made it a little harder for myself by letting my son ride his scooter - which he got caught in the ruts and slipped on the slippery leaves.

I also admin that we live on a busy "A" road. The speed limit is 30mph but cars go much faster.

I guess the thing that made my walk the most scary was the lack of places to cross roads. Sure there are nice bits of pavement that dip to road level but if you actually stand at these points you can not see round the corner to look out for cars coming. Its a gamble if there is a car or not and you just have to hope that if something is coming that they see you and slow down.

I had two nice people in cars stop and let me cross as they can see how dangerous it is.

There was a pedestrian crossing with lights at one point but we had to cross another scary road to get to it. The thing that made this particular road crossing scary was that the house on the corner had put up a really high fence so that you could not see round both corners at once to look for cars .

I often ride my bike to the local shop or drive the car and had never experienced this problem before. The times I have walked I have not had our son and our dog.

Have you experienced scary roads?

Do you find it difficult to cross roads in safety?

Have I just become a wimp?

I think there should be many more zebra crossings - you know the one with the black and white lines on the road and the flashing orange lights (which could be solar and wind powered)

Christmas Advent Calendar

sleedoh — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:52:00 GMT

Have you seen the Christmas Advent Calendar?

We have been busy making games and graphics for you all to enjoy this Christmas.

Each day we will release something fun for you to use.

Today we have released a game where you need to help Grub from the Zoobloids pick up the rubbish without getting in a tangle.

Over the alst few days we have also released some more games and some cool desktop images for you to download for free.

We hope you like the games, let us know in the forums if you like them and what your top score is

Have fun and have a Merry Christmas!

Have you seen the fun games Advent Canendar?

richard — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:43:00 GMT

As a result of your request for more games on the site the team at head office have created a fun advent calendar for you all.

Every day in the count up to Christmas you will get a new thing behind each door.

We have set it so you can not open tomorrows window - we know some times its just too tempting to open just one extra day.

This is an eco Calendar because:

it does not need to be printed on paper - so no trees have been cut down
it does not need to be delivered to shops - so no petrol or diesel has been used
you do not have to drive to the shop to pick it up - again, so no petrol or diesel has been used
you dont have to throw it away when you have finished - no wasted packaging
there is no chocolate in it (is that good or bad) - no cooking or refrigeration

I hope you enjoy visiting the advent calendar each day - tell all your firends!

Climate Change Conference sends out ripples

richard — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:17:00 GMT

We were invited to the SUS Schools Climate Change Conference in the New Forest, Hampshire we had many conversations with young people about all sorts of issues from local transport to food in schools.

The day started in a very impressive council chamber where all the seats had their own microphone so people can join in the debate. Can you imagine a microphone in front of you with a button on it to talk waiting for the conference to start...

... exactly all the students were pressing the button and enjoying hearing their voice.

Then we had an amazing and very privileged presentation from Alan Lovell which is based on the inconvenient truth. Alan is one of very few people who have been trained by Al Gore himself to present his lecture.

We then had groups come and paint their feet and engage in debate about the environment. You can see the photos in the gallery.

Ed Miliband is the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and he needs to hear your voice. We videoed your comments and here is the result. If you want to have yoursay add it to this post and we will send it on the Ed.

Keep safe on Bonfire night

sleedoh — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:22:00 GMT

Have fun on Bonfire night but make sure you keep safe.

Has anyone found any eco friendly fireworks?

Make sure that if you are having a bonfire in your garden that there are no Hedgehogs or other wildlife before lighting them.

Let us know if you have done anything environmentally friendly

Belated Happy Halloween

sleedoh — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:12:00 GMT

We hope you had a great Halloween!

Did you go out Trick or Treating?
Did you do anything that was environmentally friendly with your costume?

Please don't throw out your pumpkin, make sure if you have a compost heap that you put it onto that.
Make sure you take out the candle first

Let us know what you did for halloween.

Web site update

sleedoh — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:51:00 GMT

Hi everyone, you may have noticed a slight change on our site: www.footprintfriends.com.

We have now changed the front part of the site to look like the forums. We upgraded the forums not so long ago and have been working on upgrading the rest of the site since.

You may find some fun things to play with, let us know if you find them

We hope you like the new update, we will be adding mroe features very soon.

If there is anything you would like to see on the site let us know in the forums.

Have fun and happy posting!

Username and Password are CaSE SensITIVE!!

richard — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:45:00 GMT

We are constantly upgrading the site to make it more fun with more features and enhanced security.

If you are having issues logging on to the forum please note that your username and password are case sensitive (LikE THis)

If you are unable to log on please click on this link to recover your password

Sorry for any confusion.

Happy posting!!!!

Footprint Friends Site update

richard — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:52:00 GMT

Hi Everyone!!

You will notice that we have released a new look to your website - we hope you like it.

There are many new features for you which we are constantly adding to. Have you seen the new "Dashboard" section?

There may be some bits and pieces that need to be fixed - we will iron them out as quickly as possible

If you have any ocmments please add them to the bottom of this blog.

or email them to feet@footprintfriends.com